50 ]USt|OUt
JULY 7. 2006
lucsJuvs hv twilight
Coming Out 2006!
Z
/Vi
Z
*• '
;
Portland CI a • • I c a I
< CHINESE
'g GARDEN.
Enjoy live music in the
Garden at dusk!
Tuesdays, July nth - Aug. 15th, 2006
Located in NW Portland for over
17 years now “family owned!”
Over 15,000 Titles!
LGBT section consisting of the classics
as well as latest and greatest
award-winning films and TV series
Access our entire catalog at
www.trilogy-video.com
Tickets are S15 in advance
Concerts begin at 7:00 pm
Visit portlandchincsegardcn.org
lor more information
to reserve your space today!
WORLD’S BEST MOVIES
DVD - VHS - Audio Books
PORTLAND, OREGON 97210
503-229-1884
Sponsored by:
NORDSTROM
OPEN 11AM - 10PM DAILY
Open Daily
Your “family” video store in the NW & Pearl
i\\V I liird è • I verdi
505.228.8151
HVhepatitis
GONORRHEA
herpes
hnif
chlamydia^
tested
Cascade
City AIDS
Guys Project
Amy Sedaris draws a Blank for hungry fans
ix years after Comedy Central gave it the
S
ax, the cult television series Strangers with
Candy makes a long-awaited return to the
hig screen July 7 at Cinema 21. (Check
out the review on Page 48.)
The multitalented Amy Sedaris, 45, not only
commands the film, which she wrote with Candy co-
stars Paul Dinello and Stephen Colhert, hut she’s also
a playwright (she penned The Book of Liz with broth­
er David), author (her cookhook, I Like You:
Hospitality Under the Influence, comes out in October)
and entrepreneur (she runs a cupcake and cheeseball
business out of her Greenwich Village apartment in
between acting gigs). Miraculously, she found a few
spare moments to shoot the breeze with me.
Selling last, call 503.228.8131 x 2001
OUR MISSION IS TO BRING YOU THE
2325 NW THURMAN STREET
Perfect Strangers
Cascade AIDS Project
503-223-5907
Oregon AIDS Hotline
800-777-2437
Multnomah County
Health Dept. HIV Testing
503-988-3775
Online information:
www.man2manpdx.us
Jim Radosta: What took so long for the film
to he released after premiering at Sundance in
January 2005?
Amy Sedaris: Believe it or not, nothing that’s
too interesting. Warner was going to do it, and
then they fell through just because we had to clear
a lot of stuff. They were recently sued for $17 mil­
lion with Dukes of Hazzard, so they were just being
persnickety about some things. It took longer and
longer with the lawyers and all that stuff, and time
was running out, so they just decided not to do it.
It worked out for us, because ThinkFilms is so
much better. They’re the right people for Strangers
with Candy. 1 don’t think Warner was really—it’d
be like maybe a network saying they wanted to
release the movie, you know what I mean?
ThinkFilms is more like cable. So 1 think it’s in
better hands now.
we thought was funny, and we pulled from [The Trip
Backj a documentary on Florrie Fisher, who’s this
woman who had a past, so we borrowed from that
to help create Jerri Blank.
JR: How did you end up scoring all those
cameos?
AS: Some of them we asked. We got a lot of
requests from people. A lot of people we couldn’t
put in the movie; we just didn’t have the parts for
them. But 1 asked Phil [Seymour Hoffman], and I
asked Sarah [Jessica Parker] and Matthew
[Broderick), and we sent Allison Janney a script. Sir
Ian Holm’s son told him to do the movie. We wrote
Dan Hedaya; I’m a big fan of his. Justin Theroux is
a friend of mine. 1 was like, “You owe me!” [His
character] teaches drivers ed, and all I told him
was, “Just pretend you have a huge dick and you
don’t know what to do with it!”
JR: Now that it’s been so
long, how does it feel to sort
of let your baby go out there
and see how people respond
to it?
AS: To me, what is so great
about Strangers with Candy is 1
really like the audience for it.
They’re misfits and outcasts,
and those people are the ones
that discovered the show. How
often is a movie for people like
that? They’re always for pretty
people and straight people, and
it’s just so tiring. It’s refreshing
Amy Sedaris goes back to school in Strangers with Candy.
that there’s a film out there for
JR: How hard was it for you to get back into
a different kind of audience, so I’m really proud of
character?
that. It’s not for everybody. I just think those people
AS: I had stitches in my mouth when 1 did the
that’ll like it are the people I want to like it, and I’m
movie, so it was hard when 1 made the face. And it
glad they like it.
was in the summer and it was really hot and 1 had
the wig and the fatty suit and the boots and the
JR: My friends and I want to launch an Oscar
stitches, so I felt 1 had a lot working against me. It
campaign on your behalf. If the academy bites,
was really hard for me to concentrate, and just
what would you say in your acceptance speech?
nothing would come to my head. So that made it
AS: I’d say, “Pee on me!” and watch them drag
difficult, but that’s really about it. The character—
me off.
she’s pretty easy to jump into.
JR: Did you go through any boozer/user/loser
phases yourself?
AS: No, I didn’t. I don’t really remember much
from high school. But that’s the funny thing about
the three of us working on the movie—we didn’t
really draw from our own high schixil experiences,
and we certainly aren’t hip enough to know what
the kids are doing nowadays. We just wrote what
JR: Do you think Jerri will be back for more,
or is this the last we’ve heard from her?
AS: I want to do a Christmas movie or
Christmas special. 1 think that would he fun.
1 don’t know. Paul says she’s like a rash and you
never know when she’s going to reappear. ©
Arts and Culture Editor JlM R adosta needs your
feedback Write to jim@justout.com.